EPISODE XXVII

  The Witch’s Hut

  Taylor stood in front of the doors to ORHI’s headquarters.

  My first day as an official employee. Taylor let out an awkward chuckle. Look at me, a proper job.

  She remembered her “interview” with Amaris a few days ago.

  “Look, you already helped us so much, we might as well pay you for it. You already know all the downsides and you’re literally asking for it, we’ll take you.”

  Taylor shook her head. Don’t know why I was expecting there to be more of a process than that. Anyway… it’s Monday, time for me to see what needs doing. Will I man the desk? Will I experiment on some of our unusual objects? Do we have a customer?

  She took in a deep breath and opened the doors. “I’m ready for my first day!”

  Irene, Kirishima, Iwakiri, and Coleus were all crowded around the brand new office computer. Irene immediately perked up upon seeing Taylor. “Taylor! Thank goodness you’re here, we need your help.”

  Taylor took off her sunglasses—there was no point to them in here—and raised an incredulous eyebrow. “The four of you together can’t figure out a computer?”

  “We’ve never even used one,” Iwakiri said.

  Kirishima nodded. “Only seen them.”

  “Didn’t have computers where I came from either,” Irene added.

  Taylor looked to Coleus.

  Coleus nervously tapped her fingers together. “Computers are fine, I like them! The Internet though… uh…” She put her hands to her face and tried to make a purposefully “cute” expression which, to be fair, she did succeed in doing. “I’ve been entrapped by it! Netted! Webbed! Baited! Fished!” A spark of electricity came out of her fingers to punctuate her words.

  “Someone’s learned a lot of internet words recently,” Taylor deadpanned.

  “They came up a lot in our searches,” Coleus explained. “Fortunately, the Internet is good at defining words.”

  “Came up a lot… what exactly are you guys trying to do?”

  “Get information,” Iwakiri explained. “The serial killer told Orville he tracked our behavior via the Internet. It took us a while to figure out how, but we eventually found this site.” Iwakiri put his hand on the mouse and looked at all the tabs open in the browser. “Uh… um… geez which one was it?”

  “Just type in www dot bizarroyeshalo dot com,” Coleus said.

  “I think we’ve done that several times…”

  “Do you want to hunt for the tab?”

  “Got it.” He typed it in—very slowly, Taylor noted with agony as he had to find every key manually. “So, uh, yeah. This is the place.”

  Taylor found herself greeted to a very badly designed website filled with nonsense clipart, neon text on a background that sometimes made it hard to read, and a complete lack of unifying theme. It was clearly someone’s hobby site, one devoted to cataloging the bizarre happenings in Yeshalo, but with a clear focus on Nuk. There were pictures of poor quality, even worse grammar, an excessive use of Internet slang, and links applied liberally throughout the site with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

  But there was a page detailing ORHI.

  orhi is just the BEEEEEEEEST doing what i do but like professionally and with money and with cool stuff and powerful people and man i wish i could do stuff like that but thats not gonna happen anytime soon woe woe woe bunnyrabbit woe rawr

  Taylor groaned. “Oh no…”

  Coleus gasped and the sound of thunder came from behind her head. “Even Taylor is terrified! Taylorfied!”

  “Have you been practicing using your storm stuff for dramatic effect?”

  “Yes!” Coleus said without a hint of shame, giving Taylor a thumbs up with lightning sparking out of her thumb.

  Taylor rolled her eyes, not that it was easy to tell given her blank eyes. “Let’s see… this site is a maze, just gotta get into the head of whoever wrote it…” Taylor did some clicking around and reading, discovering very quickly that whoever wrote this was actually extremely intelligent. Despite all the stupid words, terrible organization, and poor quality, the amount of information was extensive and the efforts required to gather it were extensive. The site had information on some things that nobody should have known, private conversations… but then there were things not discussed at all; no mention at all of Scarlet’s serial killer tendencies, in fact the site writer seemed to trust her implicitly as an ally. No information on the memory angels, but there was some on demons, and even the magic crystals.

  This is all just public for anyone to peruse, how has this not been shut down?

  Taylor found the answer to that relatively quickly. Trying to trace the source of the site was impossible for someone like her—she wasn’t a hacker, she just knew how computers and the Internet worked. What she could determine was that the site’s source was encrypted somehow. All the information was public, but its source was distributed around seemingly randomly…

  That’s probably clever in a way I don’t fully realize.

  Taylor let out a low whistle. “This guy knows what he’s doing. Can’t identify an origin of any kind, and there’s no hint of an identity on the site itself. His knowledge of Nuk implies that he lives here, but beyond that… all I can say is the site’s age. It existed prior to the Strider showing up by about a year, but most of the content was clearly added after that.”

  “Then why is the site so… bad?” Irene asked.

  “I suspect laziness. Clearly whoever did this has the capacity to do something of higher quality.”

  Kirishima narrowed her eyes. “Or it’s a ruse…”

  “Maybe? I don’t think so. I get the impression the site designer is legitimately passionate about the weird and unexplained. Before the Strider showed up, most of the articles appeared to be about cryptids in the forest.”

  “But he’s exposing our movements through unknown means,” Iwakiri said, crossing his arms. “Intentional or not, this is making a problem for us.”

  “Well, we can’t find the source, but we can send a message.” Taylor clicked through several nested links until she found an Oddities Submission Form.

  Coleus lit up. “That was there the whole time!?”

  “It wasn’t easy to find, but it’s here. Now… what should we send?”

  “Demand that he stop following us,” Kirishima growled. “Tell him that we’ll sic Jenny on him.”

  “How about no?” Coleus asked. “Let’s be nice. Extend the branch of peas! After all, that intro to us sounded very excited. Might be able to get him to stop and get a new source of information.”

  Kirishima raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t know everything we do, how’s he going to be useful?”

  “Well, how he gets information, for one thing. For another… there was a section on Wingdings Curiosities that had stuff we didn’t know. There have apparently been other incidents we weren’t aware of.”

  “Wingdings Curiosities…?”

  “Oh, right, the toy company,” Taylor said. “That was a fun birthday party…”

  “Yeeep… anyway, move aside Taylor.” Coleus cracked her knuckles. “Time for the friendmaster to get to work. It’ll be lightning quick.”

  “Hey, your new powers are giving you a new line of silliness!”

  “Yeah! It’s the best part about them! Electrifying, huh?”

  ~~~

  It was the school’s Camp Week, where the various classes went out into the woods to experience nature. It was kind of like a vacation, as there were no classes, but they were intended to learn things about outdoor survival. For many of the students, this time was dreaded—lots of people got permission from their parents not to go or found some other excuse. Others would be going through a week of agonizing roughing it, taken away from their cozy homes and modern technology. Then there were the outdoorsy types who truly saw this as a real vacation and an opportunity to commune with nature.

  Then there was Amaris’ group who were treating this like a war meeting.

  Amaris, Emma, Rin, Jenny, and Vayvaresi were crowded around a campfire separated from the rest of the group, sitting on fallen logs. They were among the kids the teachers knew could survive in the forest, so they had minimal supervision. Which was the point, they needed to make a game plan. Amaris had finally managed to get Vayvaresi registered as a “service animal” even though she was the animal being serviced, but they’d found a loophole in the system, so she was allowed to be here. Jenny was not but nobody had called her out on not being a student—the teachers didn’t memorize everyone’s faces, and the students who knew who she was weren’t about to rat on her. Not that it would particularly matter if they did, she would just vanish into the forest and come back out later.

  “Okay, so, I’ve gotten as many campfire stories as I could,” Emma said, flipping through her notebook. “There’s a lot of really stupid ones they’re telling.”

  “Stupid doesn’t mean incorrect,” Amaris pointed out.

  Rin rolled her eyes. “A lot of them are too well timed to be based on real events, they’re just there to scare kids.”

  “Hasn’t worked on me a single time,” Jenny said with a chuckle.

  “You’re hard to scare.”

  Amaris nodded. “Well, ignoring all the stories that are clearly just too conveniently timed, what sorts of tales are there?”

  “Lots of unique ones, too many to deal with,” Emma said. “But there are a few that were told multiple times. The most common of these were the bigfoot encounter stories.”

  “Oh, those guys,” Jenny said. “Yeah, I ran into them out in the forest. You’re eating one right now, was a fun hunt.”

  Everyone stared blankly at her.

  “What?”

  “Some of the stories say the bigfoot can talk…” Emma whispered.

  “Um. No. Thing was just a big monkey. Even threw its own turds at me.”

  Emma’s disgust transformed into a very different flavor of disgust. “Eeeeeewww…”

  Jenny put her hands behind her head. “And its punishment is being hunted like a bear.”

  “You eat bears?”

  “I… think so? Hmm. I should probably go see if that memory’s right…”

  Vayvaresi flicked her ears. “We have plenty of food already.”

  “I meant later.”

  Emma shrugged. “Anyway, there’s some other stories… let’s see… the glowing lights that lead you to your doom if you follow them… the tree ghosts that haunt those who litter… the mysterious stairs in the forest that mutilate people who climb them or something, those stories are very vague… the sun suddenly going black and bats devouring you… the silence of the forest turning you to violent madness… the lost children who cry out to make you lost as well…”

  Amaris nodded. “Some of these are probably real. So, it’s time to start making some game plans…”

  “Mind if I join in?”

  Everyone looked up from the fire to see a boy in a hood. He quickly removed his hood, showing his face to them all in the flickering light of the fire.

  “R-ralph!?” Emma stammered, blushing profusely.

  Amaris tilted her head. “You’re welcome to stay, but are you sure you want to?”

  He sat down right next to her. “I’m sure.”

  Amaris frowned. Taylor told us things were going very badly at home, and that we should help him if we could. “All right. If you need to talk about anything, don’t hesitate.”

  Rin snorted. “Really, Amaris? Just giving him a free ticket here?”

  “Rin… he’s…”

  “I know he’s going through some stuff. But that might make him a liability, don’t you think?”

  Amaris turned to Ralph. “You think you can handle yourself if things go south?”

  Ralph nodded with a coy smile. “Easily. That psycho murderer was nothing compared to my parents.”

  Amaris winced.

  Emma coughed. “I w-was wondering, Ralph, w-why are you here? Not like, at our camp, no, not that, like, um, out here in the forest at all. I thought you always went to practice?”

  “That’s where most people think I am,” Ralph said with a chuckle. “Great opportunity to shake the gaggle that follows me everywhere and hang out with you all without a problem.”

  “You wanted… to hang out… with us…” Emma let out a dreamy sigh.

  “Easy there…” Rin said, keeping Emma from falling off the log.

  Ralph smirked. “And my parents can’t do anything to me all the way out here. I’m free.”

  Amaris sighed. “But you won’t be free forever. We’ll all go back to normal school, and you…”

  Ralph sagged. “There… isn’t much I can do about that. But I’m going to do whatever I can to also do what I want. No reason I can’t be a sports star and a… whatever you all are.”

  “Supernatural hunters?” Jenny suggested. “We need a better job title…”

  “Whatever, point is, I’m gonna do both.”

  Rin stared right into his eyes. “That’s going to be difficult.”

  “It’ll be worth it.”

  Rin blinked, then broke out into a grin. “I take back what I said, Amaris, I think he’s worth it. Got a fire to him I didn’t think the dumb jocks could have.”

  “Rin!” Emma hissed.

  Ralph laughed. “No one ever tells me that to my face!”

  “Jenny and I lack filters, you better get used to it.”

  “It just feels… so different.”

  Amaris put a hand on his shoulder. He immediately tensed up. “Hey, hey, easy… I just want to let you know, if things go really south and they do to you what they did to Taylor, I’m sure we can find something for you.”

  Ralph stared at her and blinked a few times. He broke eye contact. “Th-thanks, but… I don’t think they’ll kick me out, too much is riding on me.”

  I don’t know the details, I can’t judge that. “Well, you have options, just… wanted to let you know.”

  Vayvaresi coughed. “Perhaps we should discuss our plans for the potential dangers?”

  “Right,” Amaris said with a nod. “Ralph, to catch you up, Emma here was performing research on the various other campfires, gathering scary stories being told. She’s identified some tales of the forest that are things we might run into on this trip.”

  Emma scrambled to get to the right page on her notebook. “R-right! So, um…” She listed off the relevant ones again.

  Amaris put her hand to her chin. “The glowing lights are easiest to avoid, just don’t follow them. However, we may want to capture one—if you see one and you can capture it without following it, do so. I’m thinking of using my crossbow to throw a net around it.”

  “Anti-magic knives…” Rin started cackling.

  “Attacking a spirit of the forest may be a death sentence,” Vayvaresi pointed out.

  “Thus, only I should do it!” Jenny said with a grin. “Death sentences won’t stick!”

  Amaris nodded. “Yes, you’re an important part of a lot of this. The stairs, for instance. The rest of us just avoid them, but you can climb one and get horribly mutilated.”

  “For science!” Rin added.

  “Awesome!” Jenny chuckled.

  “If we encounter any stairs, we should mark them, to serve as a warning to others,” Amaris added.

  “What if it’s dangerous in some other way?” Emma asked.

  “Do any of the stories mention anything happening to people who don’t touch the stairs?”

  “No… only those who try to climb them. But some of the stories suggest you are compelled to climb them.”

  “Hmm… well if you feel compelled to climb, don’t hang around. As for the tree spirits… this sounds like a story designed to get kids to stop littering. If not, just don’t litter, it’s bad anyway. I’m talking to you, Jenny.”

  “But…” Jenny put her hands behind her back. “What if… I’m littering to attract the tree spirits!”

  “Jenny…”

  “Okay, fine I won’t…” Jenny crossed her arms and started grumbling.

  “Not sure what we can do about the sun going black and summoning bats to eat you,” Rin said.

  “Yeah, I’m stumped there as well,” Amaris admitted. “Maybe Vayvaresi will be able to sense it coming? But if not, I guess find shelter as fast as you can. Bury yourself if possible. Bats won’t be digging.”

  “That’ll be hard to do fast…” Vayvaresi said. “I could do it, though, but Emma? You?”

  “I could,” Ralph offered. “Just got to remember to have a shovel on me.”

  Jenny furrowed her brow. “Hey wait a minute… have you just taken over my ‘strong one’ duties?”

  “You aren’t strong,” Rin deadpanned. “You have the endurance of a truck, but your muscles are lankier than Emma’s.”

  “But… but punch! Rock punch!”

  “Not particularly coordinated.”

  “Aww…”

  “You should be happy, Jenny,” Amaris said. “Now our skillset is even more diverse with Ralph here.”

  “I am going to give him so many heavy things to carry.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like… um… er…” Jenny racked her brain. “Me!”

  Rin broke out laughing.

  “What?”

  “You’re as light as a twig!”

  “Hey!”

  “Ooooh, mad? Strange, I called you the opposite of fat!”

  Jenny blinked. “...Uh… it was still an insult!”

  “Was it?”

  “I. Um…” Jenny turned to Amaris. “So, what about the other threats?”

  “The silence of the forest…” Amaris scratched her chin. “If everything goes quiet, make sure you tell everyone around you. You’ll need to be watched for unusual behavior. Any details on what exactly the madness is, Emma?”

  “Every story has it different,” Emma said. “Sometimes it’s mad rambling, other times they become terrified of nothing, or think they’re an animal.”

  “Truly madness… try to keep whoever it is from hurting themselves, if possible. We’ll always need to travel in groups to make sure nothing goes awry. Since there are six of us now, I think even groups of three will work.”

  “Isn’t three odd?” Jenny asked.

  “Yes. It is. But there are two groups. Which is even.”

  “Oh.”

  “And as for the lost children who cry out…” Amaris sighed. “Look, we’re among a bunch of kids who may get in trouble, and we’ll need to help them. You’ll need to judge constantly if the cry you’re hearing is a real one or not. Try to test the cry, see if you can get a name out of it, make sure it doesn’t seem to be leading you somewhere…”

  Rin snapped her fingers. “Idea. Each of us carry a long rope, and if we need to investigate something suspicious, tie ourselves to a tree so we can definitely be pulled back.”

  “Oh yeah. Like we did in the arcade… you weren’t there. Huh. Shoulda thought of that.”

  “You’re pretty amazing, coming up with all these plans,” Ralph said.

  Amaris grinned. “Comes with experience. Anyway, Emma, is that really all of them?”

  “All the duplicate stories that I thought actually mattered,” Emma said. “Of course, there are a few tales that are just super generic. Serial killers in the forest. Witches in their huts luring kids in to eat them.” She shrugged. “The kinds of stories that could be set in any forest, not just this one.”

  “Right, well, keep to groups of three and keep your heads on straight. With that, I declare this work meeting done.” Amaris reached behind herself and pulled out a bag of marshmallows. “It’s time for our reward!”

  Everyone cheered and began roasting their marshmallows.

  ~~~

  “I wonder why the groups ended up like this…” Ralph said.

  Jenny shrugged. “Amaris is the boss, she chose them. I’m not questioning it any further.”

  Rin rolled her eyes. “The reasons are obvious. Amaris and Vayvaresi have to stay together when out and about, and they both know how to fight so they can protect Emma, the weakest of our group. Ralph and I aren’t weak, but we aren’t exactly strong so we should be paired with our other strong member—you, Jenny.”

  “Oh.” Jenny blinked. “I probably could have figured that out…”

  “Ah. So it does… make sense.” Ralph put his hands in his pocket and kicked a rock.

  “Wanted to be part of whatever action Amaris gets, right?” Jenny asked.

  “Oh, uh… yeah, that’s right.” He looked at the ground.

  Jenny chuckled. “Well, we’ve been figuring out that by being around her so much, things can happen to us without her. Who knows what we’re going to find walking around this forest?” Jenny gestured at the trees all around them. “The bats could come for us! I could get another bigfoot to roast!”

  “Or, nothing could happen,” Rin offered. “We are expecting something to go down in the forest. The curse’s attitude is in line with not giving us what we’re expecting.”

  “It has an attitude…?” Ralph asked.

  Jenny shrugged. “Kinda? If it didn’t Amaris wouldn’t be able to rely on it to uncover dark secrets so we can foil them. Or try to foil them, at least.” She chuckled. “You don’t know what you’ve signed up for, man.”

  “I was there with the junk dimension and the serial killer,” Ralph pointed out. “I have some ideas.”

  “Well… you know that crashed ship the military isn’t letting anyone go to?”

  “Yes…?”

  “Rin and Emma took it out.” Jenny smirked.

  Ralph stared at Rin in disbelief.

  Rin sighed. “Yeah, the curse acted through us, got put in the right place at the right time. Had some alien abductions. Was pretty sure we were going to die. Wasn’t exactly fun.” Rin suddenly got a distant expression in her face. “That… dark… monster…”

  “I’m still annoyed at him,” Jenny grumbled. “Didn’t even give me a shot or a chance, took me right out. Coward.”

  “He must have been afraid of you for some reason.”

  “I bet I have a habit of ruining their plans. Freddloi didn’t like me either.”

  “Freddloi?” Ralph asked.

  “Wow, you should read some of Amaris’ notebooks, catch up on all the nonsense that we’ve been through.” Jenny chuckled. “Freddloi was the source of the curses. He’s dead now.”

  “He just gave the curses,” Rin pointed out. “Something else is the source. Probably this ‘Eyda’ or one of her servants or something.”

  “Hmm…” Jenny suddenly alerted, glaring at a tree near them.

  “Jenny…?”

  Jenny lit her fist on fire and punched the tree. It fell over, revealing that its interior was full of meaty flesh rather than wood.

  “...Meat tree, okay…” Jenny furrowed her brow.

  Rin kneeled down and examined the meat with one of her knives. “Hmm. Seems dead now. Why’d you punch it?”

  “Tree moved like it wasn’t a tree. Stopped moving when I looked at it. Obvious trap.”

  “Could be harmless,” Ralph offered.

  “If it was a normal harmless species, we’d hear about meat trees,” Rin said. “Probably eats animals or something.”

  “Well, I got it!” Jenny grinned.

  “But what if there are others nearby?”

  Jenny punched down the nearest ten trees. All of them were wood. “All good!”

  Rin frowned. “...What about under the ground?”

  “Earth punch!” Jenny punched at the base of the meaty tree’s stump, finding that it had a root system exactly like any normal tree’s, except made out of meat. It was still dead down there, though. “All clear!”

  Rin nodded. “I guess so.”

  Ralph rubbed the back of his head, examining the wooden carnage around him. “Wow, you really are… thorough.”

  “Have to be, stuff tries to kill us.” Rin brushed her hair back and smirked. “Better get used to it.”

  “You know, I always thought you were some kind of prissy rich girl.”

  “Oh she is,” Jenny said.

  Rin put her hands on her hips. “I have not complained once about the filth or lack of luxuries on this camping trip! I am roughing it just fine!”

  “Suuuure you are.”

  They continued their friendly argument as they walked through the forest, Ralph trailing quietly behind them. He glanced back at all the felled trees. He let out a grunt and continued on his way.

  “You can’t deny that you miss your makeup,” Jenny pointed out.

  “Just because I like looking nice doesn’t mean I have to, Jenny. And you don’t know the first thing about class, you sleep in trees! I bet you eat out of garbage dumpsters!”

  “Well, yeah, I can’t get sick, sanitation’s not a problem for me. You’d be surprised what people throw out!”

  “Sanitation isn’t the issue!”

  “I think Amaris once said that’s why we feel disgust…”

  “Murderers disgust us, that’s not a sanitation problem.”

  “I dunno, all that blood getting everywhere…”

  Suddenly, the two of them stopped moving.

  “What?” Ralph asked.

  “Shh!” they both said at once. They pointed directly ahead of them.

  There was a hut a short distance ahead of them, easily visible through the trees.

  That hut definitely hadn’t been there a moment ago.

  The structure was vaguely mushroom-shaped and made out of wood. It had a chimney, out of which bubbles emerged, rather than smoke. The windows were tinted pink, but were also cloudy so there was no way to actually see inside.

  Rin took out a camera and snapped a picture. “Okay, this is definitely something.”

  “Witch’s hut?” Ralph suggested.

  “I guess, but there’s so many stories about those from everywhere we really have no context.” Rin frowned. “Sometimes they try to lure kids in, sometimes they offer deals and rewards, other times they just want to be left alone. And that’s if this even is a witch’s hut, it could be something else entirely.”

  Jenny cracked her knuckles. “Either way, time to bash the door down!”

  “That might be very bad.”

  “Okay then I’ll knock.”

  “That might also be bad!”

  Jenny threw her hands out in exasperation. “Then what am I supposed to do!?”

  “Tell everyone else and come back later?” Ralph suggested.

  Rin shook her head. “The hut wasn’t there a second ago, which means it might just vanish and we’ll never be able to find it again. If we want to investigate and do something, it has to be now.”

  “Thus I go punch the door down!” Jenny said with a grin.

  “Let’s try a more… nuanced approach.” Rin pressed her hands together. “Act like you are some poor, lost, stupid kid. That’s probably what’s expected. Ralph and I will watch from a distance, you go up to the door and knock. Act lost, confused, and scout out what’s going on. If you get baked into a pie you’ll be fine.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  Ralph stared at her with horror on his face.

  Jenny chuckled nervously. “Yeah, uh, I don’t wanna talk about that one.” She coughed. “Sounds like a plan, Rin. You’re the brains here, after all.”

  “Don’t you forget it.”

  Jenny stood up and put her hands behind her back. She leisurely strolled up to the hut’s front door. On it was a strange symbol: a hook and a vertical line overtop of a single dot. She felt like she’d seen it before, somewhere, but she couldn’t quite piece together what it meant, if anything.

  This is more than deja vu… this feels important, somehow. There’s weight behind this symbol.

  Jenny reached out and knocked on the door. “Hello? Anyone home?”

  The door opened.

  Jenny immediately screamed.

  ~~~

  Amaris, Emma, and Vayvaresi were doing much the same as the other group, simply wandering around the forest, “experiencing nature” while actually looking for weird things.

  Emma sighed overdramatically.

  “Let me guess, you’d rather be in Ralph’s team,” Amaris said.

  “Um. Well. I dunno? I want to be around him, but he doesn’t notice me, and I’d be a stuttering wreck…” Emma blinked. “I’m not mad at you! The teams make sense!”

  “That’s a relief, I was a little worried.” Amarris chuckled. “I don’t exactly know how to deal with all this mushy crush stuff.”

  “You’ve never been attracted to anything in your life.”

  “I think I thought Mr. Davidson was cute before I left on my adventure.” Amaris tapped her finger to her chin. “Since I started the adventure, though? Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Oh my gosh, I remember you talking about Mr. Davidson now! Wow, that was… so long ago.”

  “Thinking about how I was before I was cursed… really does seem like a different person, huh?”

  “Hmm… not entirely.” Emma grinned. “You’re still a huge math nerd!”

  “That’s not really a personality trait.”

  “Trust me, it is. Anyway…” Emma tilted her head. “Would you even want a guy?”

  “I think… it’d probably be best if I didn’t.”

  “The curse?”

  “Yeah, having a boyfriend or husband or whatever would just give reality another avenue to force interesting on me. Of course, I haven’t discounted the idea that the curse is going to make me fall head over heels for someone absolutely evil either. Then there’s the further problems of if I have a kid. There’s no way they could have a normal life, and they wouldn’t even be able to choose like the rest of you.”

  Emma nodded. “Kind of sad, though… I know how much family means to you.”

  “Yeah… I suppose. But it doesn’t feel like a big deal at the moment.”

  Vayvaresi nodded. “If you do fall for someone, that feeling will likely change rapidly.”

  Amaris let out a sharp breath. “Great, now I’m dreading it happening.”

  Emma put her hand on Amaris’ shoulder. “We’ll help you through it, don’t worry. Wingmen! …Wing-girls? Hmm.”

  Amaris chuckled. “I guess it is weird, the guy’s expected to make all the moves, huh?”

  “I kind of doubt you’d let it be that way if you wanted someone. You’re rather direct.”

  Amaris nodded. “Yeah, probably. Let’s see, hypothetical romance strategy… friends first, confess shortly after feelings develop…”

  “Amaris! Stop trying to logically math your way through emotions!”

  Amaris laughed. “It still helps to have a plan, right?”

  Emma facepalmed. “Not always…”

  The three of them came to a river bank with slow water, and a small offshoot that formed a miniature pond-like area in the shade of the trees.

  Amaris beamed. “Oh. Oh, this is the perfect fishing spot.”

  “I thought we were looking for anomalies…?” Vayvaresi asked.

  Amaris took a collapsible fishing pole out of her backpack. Pitch slithered around it while she set it up. “We are camping, after all, might as well make the most of it. You have yours too, right Emma?”

  “Yep, with all the camp supplies.” Emma was significantly slower at setting her pole up, but soon the two of them were sitting on a rock with their hooks in the water.

  Vayvaresi, lacking hands, opted not to ruin their fun by fishing in the traditional kitsune fashion: jumping in and biting as many fish as possible before they could swim away. She just sat down and watched in contemplative silence along with the two girls. No one said anything for quite some time—that would scare the fish, after all.

  Vayvaresi eventually fell asleep. She only came to when Amaris started nudging her. “Vayvaresi…”

  “Mmmf…” Vayvaresi opened an eye. “Did you catch anything?”

  “A lot, actually,” Emma said, gesturing at a plastic bag in her hands half-full of fish. “But we lost track of time, sorry.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “We were supposed to be looking for anomalies…” Emma pressed her fingers together.

  Amaris put her hands on her hips and sighed. “Well, yes, but you know what? Having a nice relaxing day out in the woods isn’t bad either. Maybe the others ran into something today, and we’re fine.”

  Vayaresi looked up at the sky, finding the sun to be rather low. “I take it we’re heading back to camp.”

  “Yep,” Amaris said. “We took a roundabout route to get here, so we’ll cut straight across to get back before the sun sets. We’ve got plenty of time.”

  They put all their fishing supplies away and started the journey back. Emma was humming a happy tune as they walked.

  “What tune is that?” Amaris asked.

  “I dunno,” Emma said with a shrug. “I might have just made it up!”

  “Maybe you have musical talent.”

  “My brother certainly does, but I’m not all that interested in doing the same thing.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Emma frowned. “Hmm…” she slowly gained a slight blush. “W-well, I kind of just want to be a mom and have a family… Yeah, yeah, the boring option, I know, but… well, it’s just kind of always been what I’ve been looking for, y’know?” She put her hands behind her back and looked at the sky. “Though, that might not be what I want anymore. I might want to go on adventures with you.”

  “Really?” Amaris tilted her head. “You don’t tend to have… fun.”

  “Yeah, weird right? I don’t have fun, I’m weak, I’m a liability, but…” She held out a hand. “It feels like it matters, and I have an opportunity most people won’t have.” She grinned. “So when I grow up I want to be an ORHI operative!”

  Amris chuckled. “The only reason you can’t just sign up is your parents, you know. Otherwise I’d sign you on just because you wanted it.”

  Emma chuckled. “Yeah, thanks. Consider me an honorary member or something. I wonder, why hasn’t Rin signed up? Her family always wants her to be the best and they know full well what you do at this point…”

  “Huh. I actually don’t know, I’d have to ask her.”

  “Well, we are heading back, won’t have to wait long!”

  “True, true…”

  “Something’s wrong here,” Vayvaresi said, coming to a complete standstill. “I sense… there.” She pointed her nose to their left.

  Amaris took out her crossbow and narrowed her eyes. “Emma, stay close. We’re investigating. Vayvaresi, scout ahead.”

  “Got it.” Vayvaresi jumped into a nearby bush and vanished from their sight. Amaris and Emma slowly made their way forward.

  “Maybe I should get a weapon…” Emma muttered.

  “Your parents would freak.”

  “Yeah…”

  Vayvaresi returned, dropping from a tree. “Stairs.”

  Amaris nodded. “Stairs…”

  Sure enough, as they made their way through the trees, a staircase made out of moss-covered stone came into view. It went up into the air about a story and a half. There were no other structures anywhere nearby, just the stone stairs. They had a slight curve to them as if they were part of a massive spiral staircase, even though there was no evidence of there ever having been stairs further up or deeper in the ground.

  “There’s evil here, and rage,” Vayvaresi said.

  Amaris lowered her crossbow. “The legends say things only go wrong if you climb them.”

  “Legends could be wrong, but I think it’s all restricted to the stairs themselves.”

  Amaris kneeled down near the base of the stairs, examining the structure in detail while making absolutely sure she didn’t actually touch it. “Seems like normal stone…”

  Emma walked around to the taller end of the stairs. She paled. “A-amaris, I found old blood…”

  Amaris walked to her and looked up. There was, indeed, the brownish splatter of ancient blood at the top of the staircase. “Yep, don’t go to the top, message received.”

  “How are we going to contain this…?”

  “Honestly, just put a fence around it with warnings,” Amaris said.

  “That’s going to make some people want to climb it.”

  “Or have Jenny punch it into oblivion, she’ll be fine.” Amaris crossed her arms and tapped her feet. She pulled out a map of the nearby area and checked the position of the sun against a compass. “We are… here.” She marked it on the map. “So we can come back here with Jenny later.”

  “Do you think this is related to the doors?”

  “This feels a lot more nefarious,” Vayvaresi said.

  “Still, they could be related,” Amaris added. “Different manifestations of the same thing, perhaps.”

  “We should still mark it,” Emma said. “But how…?”

  Amaris reached into her backpack and pulled out a can of black spray paint. She sprayed a circle around the stairs, using the ground and grass as her canvas. Inside the circle, she wrote DANGER, DO NOT CLIMB, OUTER REALITY HANDLING INCORPORATED. “If anyone sees it they’ll at least think twice. If they go in anyway because they feel like it… their problem, unfortunately.”

  “Did you just vandalize the ground?”

  “It’s for a public safety purpose, we’re fine.”

  “If you say so…”

  With that, Amaris packed the spray paint back away, took a moment to give Pitch some skritches, and continued back toward camp. Emma and Vayvaresi trailed behind a bit, Emma regularly stealing glances back at the stairs.

  “Emma?” Vayvaresi asked.

  “Just thinking about how many people probably died there, on top of those stairs. Nobody really believes the stories told around the campfire. Other kids would probably dare people to climb it…” She sighed. “How many people die in this city every day because of the fantastical?”

  “There are a lot of missing person reports all the time,” Amaris said. “Too many to search through even when we need to. It is… a true travesty. We’re doing what we can, but… there’s not enough of us. Not enough people trust us. It’s… a slow process.”

  Emma looked down at the ground. “Yeah…”

  “A very… very slow… proce… um…” Amaris suddenly stopped moving.

  “Amaris?” Emma asked.

  “It’s gone silent,” Amaris said.

  Emma remained quiet for a moment. She listened for the sound of birds, of the leaves rustling in the wind. There was nothing but their breathing.

  “Okay, the silence,” Amaris said. “Is anyone feeling murderous or insane?”

  “No,” Vayvaresi and Emma both said at the same time.

  “Good, good… it might not affect us, there might just be a predator in the area…” Amaris closed her eyes. “No, no I can feel wind, just not hear it. This is something else.”

  Emma tapped her foot on the ground. She could hear it, but the sound was muted. She rubbed her hands together but didn’t hear anything. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t hear her breathing anymore…

  “It’s getting quieter,” Emma said.

  “I can barely hear you,” Amaris admitted.

  “My ears are better,” Vavaresi offered. “Plan?”

  “Alert everyone if you feel wrong, but otherwise, just keep moving.” Given Amaris’ expression, she was clearly saying this with a strained voice, but it came out as barely more than a whisper.

  They made it six steps before they could no longer hear their footsteps.

  Amaris started clapping. It sounded like it was coming from the distance, further and further away with every clap.

  Six more steps, not even it could be heard anymore.

  The world was completely silent.

  Amaris suddenly stopped. She dropped her crossbow.

  “Amaris?” Emma said, not that the sound was actually audible.

  Amaris whirled around, pupils shrunk to pinpricks. She screamed one word at the top of her lungs. Emma could not hear, but she could see.

  Run!

  Emma froze.

  She’s telling me to run. She means it.

  Her legs wouldn’t budge.

  Move! Move! That’s the look she gives me when my life depends on it, so move!

  Amaris extremely wide eyes pleaded with her. Begging her to move. To go.

  I-I’m sorry Amaris, I’m frozen…

  Amaris reached out her hands, aiming for Emma’s throat.

  This… this is impossible, she can’t just be taken over like this…

  Amaris’ wide eyes began to narrow, and her mouth twisted into a scowl.

  No, no this is really happening. I have to… I can’t just lay down and take this!

  Emma moved. She tilted back. Amaris’ hands clamped down on absolutely nothing. Emma lifted one of her legs and kicked Amaris as hard as she could. Her strength surprised her, she was able to lift Amaris a short distance off the ground. Amaris, however, had no problem at all being thrown into the air. She twisted her body around, moving to deliver a kick to Emma’s face.

  Emma didn’t even notice it coming until it was almost at her head. She never stood a chance of deflecting it or dodging it.

  Vayvaresi intercepted the attack by biting down on Amaris’ leg, keeping Emma safe.

  Now that the adrenaline had taken over and Amaris had been thrown aside, Emma could run. And she did. She ran faster than she ever had before, a breakneck speed. Her only hope was to escape. She could do nothing against Amaris.

  She made it a handful of steps when there was a sharp, sudden pain in her left leg. The leg shot up into the air and she fell onto her side. Blood flew onto the ground in front of her.

  Emma did her best to ignore the pain, and her adrenaline allowed her to make an honorable attempt. Without so much as looking at her leg, she stood up and tried to keep running, but she fell flat on her face after two steps.

  She rolled onto her back and sat up.

  Behind her, Vayvaresi had torn the crossbow out of Amaris’ hands, shattering it in her jaws.

  There was a crossbow bolt sticking right through her leg just above her ankle. No wonder she couldn’t run.

  Only now did she let out a wail of agonizing pain. The fire extended through her entire lower leg, and her foot didn’t feel like it was all there even though she could see it.

  It was still usable. She could still move. She just had to be careful.

  Amaris kicked Vayvaresi in the stomach, tossing her to the side. There was no sound as she slammed into a tree—but she didn’t go down. She launched back at Amaris, teeth bared.

  Emma managed to get to her feet. She had one good leg, and the other one she could limp on at the very least. She could move. She could flee. Unfortunately, now that she’d been forced to regain some of her mental faculties to even move like this, she asked herself an obvious question.

  Where am I running to?

  Amaris was far faster and more capable than Emma. If Vayvaresi lost this encounter, then Emma was toast no matter where she ran. The camp was too far away. The only thing nearby was…

  Emma got a terrible idea.

  Turning a sharp ninety degrees, she began to hobble toward the staircase.

  They had not made it very far, the trip was easily within her capacity since Vayvaresi was keeping Amaris busy.

  Emma took a step onto the staircase.

  That’s it, little one, climb.

  The voice in her head was making a sound. She froze.

  Her body didn’t. It took another step.

  Ascend, let all your dreams be realized.

  “No!” Emma tried to say, but she was still silent. “You’re lying!”

  You will see everything you want…

  “I don’t believe you!”

  Do not resist…

  “I won’t give—” Emma paused. Wait. I actually wanted to be up here. For… she glanced behind herself.

  Amaris was charging right for her at high speed. There was blood all over her arm and leg from Vayvaresi’s bites, but it wasn’t slowing her down at all. There was no sign of a smile on her face, just pure hatred fixated entirely on Emma.

  Veyvaresi was chasing Amaris, but she was too slow.

  Emma quickly increased the rate at which she was climbing the stairs.

  Yes… give in… come to your rest…

  Emma started walking up the stairs backward so she could keep an eye on Amaris.

  What are you…?

  Emma smirked. Bet this has never happened before. I’m still purposefully climbing up you, you can’t complain, stair-voice.

  Amaris jumped at her from the base of the stairs, hands outstretched.

  Emma stepped back, higher onto the staircase.

  Amaris plunged her hand into where Emma’s heart would be. She clearly intended to break the skin and crush the organ, though even in this frenzied rage she didn’t have that kind of strength. But she managed to grab Emma and hold, hard.

  Her momentum carried the both of them over the top of the stairs.

  Then Emma was looking at the world upside-down.

  What…?

  She didn’t have time to think. The pain hit her all at once. She had never felt such pain. She felt parts of her body snap, sending waves of agony throughout her. She screamed, but not only was there no sound, the fire in her chest made it impossible to cry out for more than a second. Breathing was like inhaling flames, but she had to do it. There was no other choice. Breathe or die.

  All other motions were impossible. To try to move a muscle was to feel like ripping her very body apart. Blood started flowing from her eyes. Her ears felt wet, were they affected too? She couldn’t tell.

  Then she hit the ground.

  She could no longer make sense of the sensations running through her body. Pain, yes, but of what sort? What kind of torment was she going through? She needed to breathe. Breathe or die. But breathing was so hard, one of the hardest things… everything screamed. Where had she landed? Did she feel it in her shoulder? Hip? Foot? She couldn’t even feel the crossbow bolt anymore, it was pathetic compared to the rest of it.

  She saw Amaris land next to her.

  Amaris, folded in half like a piece of paper. Legs twisted around each other in a knot. Bone poking out the side of her left arm. Blood flowing out of her face like it was a leaky bag. Mouth hanging open in a frozen scream.

  Ah.. so that’s what happened… Emma teared up. Sorry, Amaris, it’s all I could think of… but… but you’ll be fine, something will happen…

  Amaris locked eyes with Emma. The eyes were the eyes of rage, the eyes of hatred, of violence.

  We’ll fix you…

  Emma’s vision became hazy around the edges.

  Amaris twitched and jittered. One of her hands pointed at Emma and started clawing at the air, trying to reach her, even now, in this state.

  We’ll fix you…

  Everything went black.

  ~~~

  “Wow, this is maybe the best tea I’ve ever had,” Jenny said, downing the rest of the liquid in her mug. “And Scarlet really tried to find my favorite!”

  Rin stared at the half-eaten fish on the plate in front of her. “I… I can’t believe it… it’s so… fresh… fresher than fresh… like someone pulled it out of the river tomorrow!”

  “Cake…” Ralph said as he took another bite of his delectable pastry. The three of them were sitting around a simple circular wooden table in a room warmed by a pleasant fireplace.

  “I’m so glad I didn’t burn this place down,” Jenny said, turning to their host. “You gave us quite a scare back there, though!”

  Their host was a vaguely humanoid figure with a floppy white pointed hat and a blue silk dress. Her body itself was made out of living, independent snakes, continually slithering and writhing around. Her face was currently covered by a circular mask with two circular eye holes and a flat, straight line. “I’m glad you didn’t burn it down either, it was hard for me to find this place. I was hoping you wouldn’t be afraid, though…”

  Rin furrowed her brow. “I think you have some kind of fear aura. It doesn’t have anything to do with how you actually look, you just cause fear. I’ve felt something like it before.”

  Jenny smirked. “You two couldn’t even move!”

  “You still screamed!”

  “Hey, it was legitimately surprising!”

  “A fear aura…” Their host paused. “...So all these beauty potions I keep trying won’t help at all.”

  “Probably not.”

  She sagged visibly, a dark cloud of smog appearing over her head. “It’s all pointless…”

  “Hey, Mykrai, you can still go around with the mask on, it’s fine! Though, uh, I guess the snakeskin might just unnerve people normally.”

  “I’m horrifying…”

  “Yep!”

  “Jenny!” Rin hissed.

  “What? It’s true!”

  “She doesn’t want to be horrifying!”

  “I wish I could be horrifying sometimes, you have any idea how hard it is to intimidate people with this cute face?”

  Rin stared at her blankly.

  Ralph finished his cake. “Oh. Uh. Wow, I probably ate too much of that…”

  Mykrai straightened herself up and waved the smog away. “I’m… glad you enjoyed. Yes. It’s good to have visitors who aren’t screaming. I thank you for the mask idea, Jenny.”

  “You’re welcome!” Jenny beamed.

  “Question,” Rin said, raising a hand. “You mentioned you found this place. What exactly is the story there? What is this place?”

  They were inside the hut in the middle of the woods. They could see outside just fine—evidently the windows only blocked visibility one way, somehow. The fireplace had a roaring fire within it that illuminated the room extremely well, despite the presence of a cauldron on top of it, from which Mykrai had magically produced the food. It was absolutely dominated by shelves upon shelves of potions in bottles of various sizes. Each potion had the unusual hook-line-dot symbol that was on the door imprinted upon the glass. The liquids inside each glass vial were of an exceedingly large variety; some sparkled, some were opaque and thick, and others had fluids that were almost invisible.

  Between two of the potion-stocked shelves, there was a painting of a pink gari woman with a silly smile. She was sitting in a red recliner that matched one of the recliners in the room near the fireplace. In one of her hands, she held a potion, and her simple gray dress had the hook-line-dot symbol on it.

  “I think it was probably her hut,” Mykrai said, staring at the painting through her mask. “She was long gone when I arrived. No one had been here in a long while. But the potions kept restocking themselves, even after I used them. Since I can use them to make food, I haven’t left this place. It would be too hard to find again.”

  “How did you find it?” Rin asked.

  “Not the way you did, from the outside.” Mykrai gestured at the door. “That door leads to… I’m going to call it a labyrinth, but it’s not like a traditional maze, more like a bunch of rooms stitched together in an impossible way. Some places look like normal houses. Others are tangled messes of hallways. And then there’s weird ones that seem pixelated, or are the wrong size, or…” She shook her head. “It’s very inconsistent. And every time I found a way out of it, it always had people. People who could only scream.”

  “Hmm… the doors…” Rin scratched her chin and flicked her tail back and forth. “We’ve been trying to figure out what they are and what they do. We’ve been in what you call the labyrinth a few times. It released a monster on me and Emma during the storm.”

  “When I was in there I never saw anyone else,” Mykrai said. “Only when I emerged… there were always people, until I found this place.”

  “I wonder if this place isn’t actually outside this labyrinth. That it might be special in some way, but still part of it.” Rin furrowed her brow. “After all, it does seem to move throughout the forest.”

  “I’m just glad it’s consistent here and I don’t get screamed at. …Most of the time.” Mykrai finally sat down in one of the recliners. “So, um… what is your three’s story?”

  Jenny smirked. “I’m the immortal child Jenny Zero of the Red Gloves! My fists are magic and I fight to protect Amaris and Outer Reality Handling Incorporated! We’re going to figure out the secrets of this world and keep everyone safe from them!”

  “Or try, anyway,” Rin said. “I’m Rin Kugimiya, only daughter of the Kugimiya line, heir of the family…” She let out a sigh. “Oh, forget it, I’m just Rin. Today I’m a paranormal adventurer with a bunch of knives.”

  “Sounds like there’s a story there…” Mykrai said.

  “I guess?” Rin shrugged. “I’m, as Jenny would say, ‘filthy stinking rich.’ “

  “She’s right, I would say that,” Jenny added.

  Rin rolled her eyes. “My family got money through means I’m sure weren’t legitimate, since we’re nekos, but I’ve never been told what it was. They’re so proud of it, and want me to be something to be proud of. And they certainly love parading me around, so I guess I am?” Rin sighed. “I used to think it was all that matters, but then Amaris showed up, made a point of not letting me sit alone at lunch, and… it all feels kind of silly. Especially considering how many times I’ve been close to death at this point.”

  Mykrai lowered her head. “A child like you should not be facing death so regularly…”

  “It’s the price you pay for being Amaris’ friend,” Jenny said.

  Rin snickered. “Oh, you don’t know how brutal the Dregs can be, do you?”

  “Eh? I mean, I’ve been shanked a few times, but I figured that was just the curse.”

  “Oooooh no no no, talk to the Kiris sometime, that’s normal.”

  “...Geez. How are you alive?”

  “I learned how to throw knives for a reason, you know.”

  Mykrai’s head sunk. “One so young forced into a life of violence… I wish it wasn’t so.”

  “I… am only recently seeing that it might have been a problem, yes,” Rin admitted. “I can be just as nasty as all the people who were nasty to us.”

  “...At least your parents are proud of you,” Ralph said, ending his long silence.

  “They didn’t really give me much of a choice, now that I think about it. Both them and the place I lived.” Rin frowned. “Geez, to think, a few months ago and I would have been defending them as the best things ever… just because that was what I was supposed to do.”

  Ralph nodded. “Same… though… I’m not good enough for my parents.”

  “How horrible,” Mykrai said, shaking her head.

  “They want me to become a sports legend. I… don’t like what being that gives me. Always working, always running, always fighting, always surrounded by… idiots.”

  Jenny snorted. “Buddy, you aren’t the brightest tool in the shed either.”

  Rin rolled her eyes. “You’re one to talk, you just mixed up your colloquialisms.”

  “I uh… what?”

  “I know I’m not the smartest,” Ralph said, folding his hands together. “I’m the strongest, that’s what I am. So I have to be mister sports. Mister pride of the school. The one everyone looks up to and praises and just…” He clenched his fists. “I hate it. I have to do it but I hate it.”

  Mykrai nodded slowly. “And you can’t tell them no?”

  “No… my sister tried. It didn’t go… well.”

  “Sometimes you’re just trapped… but there will come a day where you become your own person, where you are no longer under them. If you can wait until then… you could just walk out on it all.”

  Ralph’s expression darkened. “I’ll be on a career path to professional sports at that point. I talked to Coach, it’s not going to be simple to swap to something else at that point. Even more people will ‘need’ me to do it. It’s like… a net. A stupid net I can’t escape.”

  “Screw what they want,” Jenny said. “Leave them all in the dust.”

  “Screw what they want…” Ralph nodded. “Yeah… yeah, I think you’re right. They’re the ones pressuring me, demanding things of me. They deserve payback.”

  “You got it! The moment you can leave, NYOOM, dash out the door!” Jenny jumped onto the table and put her hands on her hips. “Look them right in the eye and then…” She stuck out her tongue and put out her hand in a thumbs down gesture. “Screw them! Leave! Let them know full well they aren’t getting anything out of you!”

  “Yeah… yeah… yeah!” Ralph stood up… but then darkened. “But then what…?”

  Jenny blinked. “I don’t generally think that far ahead, uh… Rin?”

  Rin shrugged. “Work for Amaris? But you have to make sure that’s what you really want.”

  “What I want…” Ralph sagged back down in his chair. “I never get what I want. It’s like I’m cursed, or something. Just like Amaris… Amaris…”

  Mykrai kneeled down until she was at eye-level with Ralph. “You should go for what you want. Seize it. Even if you’re stuck, you should at least try.”

  “Try… for what I want?”

  “Yeah! I was stuck in the labyrinth for so long, but I kept wandering, kept trying, and eventually I found this place. If you keep trying, you could find what you’ve wanted all this time!”

  “Go for what I want…” Ralph beamed at her. “Okay. I’ll… I’ll go for it. I’ll… go for it.” He folded his fingers together and started twiddling his thumbs.

  Rin raised an eyebrow. “What’s gotten you nervous all of a sudden?”

  “N-nothing. Or. Well.” He rubbed the back of his head. “You’ll see soon enough, actually.”

  “Okay…”

  It was at this point they heard the shouting.

  “That sounds like Vayvaresi…” Jenny said, going up to the window. Sure enough, she could see Vayvaresi running through the treeline nearby, shouting.

  “Help! We need help! Anyone! Help!” Her teeth were sharp and pointed, and it looked like blood was flowing off of them…

  Jenny flinched in anger, clenching her fist. “Rin, I think… you need to…”

  “Got it.” Rin opened the door. “Hey, Vayvaresi! Your curse is freaking the humans out, what’s the problem!?”

  “Amaris and Emma are heavily injured! I need healing or some way to call Coleus or something!”

  Rin turned to Mykrai. “Do you know which potions are healing potions?”

  “Those are easy to identify, yes,” Mykrai said.

  “We have healing potions!”

  “That might not be enough!” Vayvaresi shouted. “Their bones and bodies are broken and folded all over…”

  Rin’s stomach finally decided it was time to tie up into a knot. “Do… do we have strong health potions?”

  Mykrai frowned. “I… I think I can mix them together in the cauldron to make it, but… we’d need to carry the entire cauldron to them…”

  “Ralph! Jenny!” Rin turned to them. “You’re going to be carrying a cauldron while Mykrai’s brewing it.”

  “While I’m brewing it!? It needs fire!”

  Jenny lit her hands on fire. “Got you covered.”

  “But… leaving the hut…” Mykrai shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine, if I never find this place again…”

  “Tie a rope to your foot,” Rin said. “It should help us find our way back. We have plenty of fishing line. Let’s move, people!”

  They scrambled. Rin got the fishing line out and tied it to the inside of the hut at multiple locations with multiple threads, just in case something broke. Ralph and Jenny hefted up the cauldron awkwardly: Ralph held it by the handles, while Jenny had her hands pressed to the cauldron itself so she could heat it. Mykrai grabbed a dozen or so health potions in her arms and dumped them into the cauldron before running back to grab another dozen. “Rin, grab the giant spoon!”

  “The…” Rin blinked, finding it immediately. It was taller than she was and made of brass. She quickly tied the fishing line to it. “...Okay, got it!” She threw the spoon at Mykrai, who had already thrown a few more potions into the cauldron. “Okay, I’m following Vayvaresi, you’re all following me!” Rin took off at a half-sprint. “Try to stay out of their sight, Vayvaresi, they have to keep that cauldron stable!”

  “Got it.” Vayvaresi didn’t run into the forest, as the group carrying the cauldron couldn’t move that fast, but she did still move quickly. As she moved, she called back to Rin some words of explanation. “Amaris was hit by the silence and attacked Emma. Emma ran to the stairs and tricked Amaris into going over the top, but they both went over.”

  “Amaris might be violent when she’s healed?”

  “The silence appears to have ended, but it’s possible.” Vayvaresi paused. “Brace yourself, it’s a truly horrifying sight.”

  Rin made sure to call back to the others. “It’s apparently horrifying, you all need to brace yourselves when you see them!”

  “They’re up ahead.”

  Rin saw the stairs first. Saw the blood all over the top of them.

  Then she saw their forms.

  She had seen many horrifying things in the Dregs. People had lost limbs in front of her, had brains blown out. She’d felt the horrendous fear of the demon Orvind. She’d watched a star alien be torn limb from limb.

  This was nothing compared to what she was currently looking at. The forms of Emma and Amaris were folded up like pretzels. Bone was visible in multiple locations, blood was everywhere. Yet, they were still alive. Breathing, though breathing extremely slowly and irregularly. How had they not bled out completely? Even their eyes were red, the ground was soaked… what kind of horror was this?

  Rin broke out into an instant sweat and her head reeled, but she remained standing. Jenny will be fine with this, but Ralph… we… we can’t have the cauldron dropped! Rin quickly turned around and called back. “Set the cauldron down and work from there!”

  “But…” Jenny said.

  “You and I will carry it over later!”

  “What abou—” Ralph began.

  “I can’t trust you not to lose it and pour it all on the ground! Kapeesh?”

  “Oh…”

  “Hurry, Mykrai, I don’t know how much time we have, they’ve lost a lot of blood!”

  “Last potion going in now!” She uncorked the bottle and poured it in, stirring rapidly. The color of the smoke coming out of the cauldron became neon red. “There we go! Ludicrously strong health potion! We should just be able to pour it on them…”

  Rin shoved Ralph to the side and grabbed the handles. “Ready, Jenny?”

  “Ready!”

  She and Jenny ran the cauldron over to Emma and Amaris. Rin heard Jenny wince, but that was the limit of her reaction to the carnage. They dumped some of the liquid onto Emma first, as she was the closest. It was scalding hot, burning her skin in the first moments… but in the next moments, it restored its own burn. Not only did it seal up all the cuts and wounds immediately, it also cleaned her skin and made her sparkle. Bones snapped into place, new blood was generated midair and pumped into her rapidly rearranging body. For a moment, Emma screamed as her limbs snatched back into place, but then she let out a contented sigh, as though she were receiving a massage.

  The moment she stopped being in obvious pain, they ran to Amaris and poured the potion on her, getting a very similar result. They didn’t notice it, but the liquid also flowed onto Pitch, restoring him as well.

  Two girls and a snake were restored to a level of health so extreme they felt better than they could remember feeling. Their clothes were absolute tattered messes, barely more than rags that didn’t accomplish much. The shoes were ruined, and basically everything in Amaris’ backpack had been rendered useless. Some of it could be salvaged—the notebook was merely bent in half, it would still be legible.

  Amaris didn’t particularly care about this in the moment. She quickly jumped to Emma.

  Everyone tensed—they’d forgotten about Amaris possibly still being angry.

  But they didn’t need to worry.

  Amaris wrapped her arms around Emma and started bawling her eyes out. “I’m so… so… so sorry I… I tried to kill you I…”

  Emma had been staring blankly at the space in front of her before that moment, but Amaris’ words shocked her back to reality. “Amaris! It wasn’t your fault, you weren’t in control.”

  “You should be able to trust me, if nothing else…”

  “I do trust you. So when you act like that I know it’s not you.” She returned the hug. “Amaris, I’m fine now, you’re fine now, it’s all okay.”

  “It’s not okay…”

  “You tried to kill me, I tricked you off a set of lethal stairs. I think we’re even.”

  “Emma…”

  “Amaris, it’s okay. I… I know what I’ve signed up for.”

  Amaris sniffed. “...Emma, thank you. You… you saved us.”

  “By almost killing us.”

  “Yeah… by almost killing us.” Amaris’ face became one of concern. “That… that hurt a lot, are you okay…?”

  Emma visibly winced the moment her mind went to those thoughts. “N-no, that was… terrible… but… I will be fine. Just…” She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Just need to remind myself it’s over and…” She looked up at the stairs. She stood up very suddenly and backed away from them. “Go… somewhere… else.”

  “Good idea… Jenny, smash the stairs.”

  “You got it, boss!” Jenny said, patting Amaris on the back. “Was worried there for a second, glad to have you back!” She cracked her knuckles. “ROCK PUNCH!”

  The stairs crumbled to rubble after only three punches.

  Emma and Amaris walked away from the rocky carnage, towards Ralph and Mykrai. “Thanks, everyone,” Amaris said. “Good work.”

  Ralph’s face was beet red. “Y-yeah sure thing.”

  “Ralph are you all right…? We can’t have looked very pleasant…”

  “Rin m-made sure I didn’t see…”

  Emma suddenly tightened her grip on Amaris. Amaris looked down at her, finding she was beet red as well. “Eh? What is…”

  Rin facepalmed. “You’re barely wearing anything, Amaris.”

  “...Oh.” Amaris did not become as red as the other two, but even she couldn’t quite retain her composure in this situation. “Do we, um, have extra clothes?”

  “Back at my hut,” Mykrai said. “Which you’ll probably want to rest at anyway.”

  “Thank you… stranger.” Amaris glanced at Rin. “She’s trustworthy, right?”

  Rin nodded. “Yes, we wouldn’t have been able to help you without her.”

  “Right place, right time… just as usual.” Amaris chuckled.

  ~~~

  Pitch slithered around Amaris’ arm a little tighter than usual. He probably suffered a lot too, must have been so scared… Better clothes had been quickly acquired; both Emma and Amaris had ponchos on, though there weren’t proper shoes for them. The fishing line had led them right back to the mysterious hut without incident, and they were all sitting around the table, having snacks next to the fire.

  Emma was staring at a cup of hot chocolate she had. She was stirring it with her spoon without drinking it.

  Amaris turned to her. “Emma, are you…?”

  “I… I think I need to apologize to you,” Emma said. “It’s weird, I know, you’re the one who apologized to me, but…” She wrung her wrists. “I didn’t have the strength to help, I had to use… the stairs…” Emma shuddered. “If I was stronger, I… might have been able to help Vayvaresi or… pinned you down or something…”

  “Hey!” Rin said, folding her arms. “Did we learn nothing from the storm?”

  Emma laughed awkwardly. “I mean, I know I’m worth something without being strong or sacrificing myself, but…”

  “It’s not something you should apologize for, at least,” Amaris said. “You did the best you could, and it was enough to save yourself. I… actually want to thank you, I’m not sure I could have lived with being the one who killed you, even if it was some kind of freaky magic curse.”

  Emma crossed her arms. “But you apologized to me for that.”

  “I. Well. Um.” Amaris rubbed the back of her head. “Okay so I’m sorry for being a hypocrite then, I had no need to apologize. I… did feel terrible at the time.”

  “Yeah. It sucked.” Emma visibly winced. “Okay, going on, let’s try not to think about the pain… and think about getting stronger.”

  “You don’t have to…”

  “I’m going to be involved with this no matter what at this point, I should know how to defend myself beyond running away in the right direction.”

  “Okay, right, good point… um… I don’t know how to train you though, I was put through terrible things to gain these skills.”

  “Maybe I could sign up with the Society of Pointed Hats?”

  “We’d need something your parents wouldn’t freak out about. They already freak out about you being around me, they just can’t justify cutting me off since it’s not really my fault.”

  “Right…” Emma frowned. “I dunno, I’ll have to think on it. Maybe I just sign up for sports or something.”

  Rin chuckled. “Look at Ralph, being mister sportsman doesn’t mean you’re ready for all this.”

  Ralph blinked and stopped looking at Amaris. “Huh? What did you say?”

  “Wow, you were staring off into space there.”

  Amaris took the opportunity to look around the witch’s hut, and found her gaze drawn to the painting of the pink gari.

  Why do I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…?

  “Any idea who this picture is of?” Amaris asked.

  Mykrai shook her head. “No, sorry.”

  “Hmmmmmm…” Amaris took out her bent in half notebook and scribbled a few lines into it. “I think we should keep it in mind, at least.” She paused. “So, when we leave this place, we might not be able to come back?”

  Mykrai nodded. “Yeah, it moves around, unless you wanted to tie yourselves to it.”

  “I’m thinking we tie it to a tree outside just to see, but I suspect that’ll start moving the tree around with it.”

  “Worth a shot, at least,” Vayvaresi said.

  Amaris nodded. “Anyway, can we take the potions with us when we leave? Just in case?”

  Mykrai clasped her hands together. “Of course! Just leave the ones that make food, the others will eventually restock automatically. And be careful, I don’t know what all of them do.”

  “And I have to offer… do you really want to stay here? We could take you with us.”

  Mykrai shook her head. “This is my home now. While I like visitors, I’d be fine if I didn’t get any more. I prefer… a quiet life. No offense, but today was not quiet.”

  Jenny chuckled. “You got that right!”

  Amaris glanced out the window. “Right… I think we’re going to be late getting back to camp. We should probably return before they get really worried.”

  Ralph tensed.

  “Ralph…?” Emma asked. “You… okay?” She frowned. “There’s a few days of camp left, it’s not quite over…”

  “I just… didn’t realize how much time was…” he sighed, and then stood up, a determined look on his face. “No, I’m not going to hide it anymore. As Mykrai said, I should try to pursue what I want, and stop just accepting things. Right. Uh. Here goes.” He turned to Amaris, arms behind his back and face unusually… nervous?

  Amaris gave him her full attention. Remember what Taylor said, be careful. He’s going through a lot.

  “Amaris, you’re just… really cool, you know that? You probably don’t get told you’re an actual hero a lot, but you are. You saved us all in that trash dimension, you put your life on the line, you go to school and you face monsters every day, but you’re also kind to everyone. And smart. And you could probably beat me in a fight, even! That’s… really something.”

  “Oh. Um. Thanks?” What is going on?

  Rin clawed the table. “Oh no…”

  Ralph coughed. “What I’m saying is, you’re… awesome. And I’m asking you out on a date. Don’t know where, don’t know what we’d do, but it could possibly be just an adventure like this… and… well… what do you say?”

  Amaris stared blankly at him.

  Rin placed a very firm hand on Emma’s shoulder.

  Nobody said anything for quite some time.

  Amaris’ mind was racing. What am I supposed to do with this? How do I deal with it? This isn’t a monster, he’s not one of my close friends, but here he is pouring out his heart and oh my gosh this is why he was trying to get close to us ever since Emma’s birthday and oh no what about Emma oh geez Rin thank goodness you’re smarter than the both of us and…

  “Amaris…?” Ralph said with pleading eyes.

  “U-uh…” Amaris swallowed hard. “W-well, erm… I uh…”

  The truth. Tell the truth.

  Amaris sighed, sagging forward. “I… no. The answer’s no.”

  Ralph’s breathing became uneasy. “I don’t care about all the danger from the curse, in fact it’s part of why you’re so exciting! No day with you would be boring!”

  “That’s not why I said no,” Amaris said. “I’m just… not interested.”

  “Not… interested?”

  “And to be clear, there’s not someone else. I’m just not interested in… anyone at the moment.”

  “Well, give me a chance, then?”

  Amaris glanced to Rin, pleading with her to help her out. This was a mistake, not because of Rin, but because of the tears currently flowing down Emma’s face that she was trying really hard to be quiet about.

  Amaris quickly locked her expression back to Ralph. “Um… no. Look, Ralph, you’re not a bad guy or anything, it’s just not something I want to do.”

  “Could that… change?”

  “W-well… I suppose it’s possible, but… I doubt it.” She frowned. “Ralph, it doesn’t have to be me, you know. There are plenty of girls around who would gladly go out with you.”

  Ralph grimaced. “I know, they follow me around everywhere.”

  “I’m not talking about them. I understand why you don’t like them. But there are others who would treat you like a person rather than some kind of trophy. I… could even introduce you, offer a suggestion, believe it or not.” Amaris heard Emma’s breath catch. Trying my best here, I have no idea what I’m doing.

  Ralph looked down at the ground. “Look at that. You’re being so nice again. Just… perfect.”

  “Um…”

  “I don’t need your help. If it’s not you then it’s not what I want.” He turned around and walked to the front door. “Thanks for the adventure. Bye.” He walked into the forest without another word.

  Amaris slowly turned to Rin. “Should I go after him…?”

  “Why do you assume I have any idea how to deal with this!?” Rin blurted.

  “You’re better than me!”

  “I’ve never been on a date or had a boyfriend in my life!”

  “Um. Well. Er…”

  “Th-thank you…” Emma stammered.

  Amaris turned all her attention to Emma. “Emma, I… I wish you didn’t have to see that…”

  “It’s… it’s fine… oh who am I kidding no it isn’t!” She rammed her fists into the table. “You weren’t even trying and he noticed you! And I can’t even be mad about that! The thing I’m mad about is how much you hurt him! But then if you didn’t hurt him you would have said yes and I’d have a different reason to be mad! AGH!” She rammed her face into the table and started heaving. “And then y-you tried to direct him to m-me and I f-felt so bad for b-being mad and he shot you down and and I want to be mad at him b-but he’s going through so much…”

  Jenny suddenly got up and went to the door.

  “Jenny?” Amaris asked.

  “I’m going to make sure he doesn’t do something stupid,” Jenny said, face entirely serious. “You three need to have your moment here. I’m going after him.”

  “So I should have gone after him…” Amaris said.

  “No,” Jenny said. “You’d be the worst person to go after him.” She dashed out of the hut.

  There was silence between the three of them.

  “Have our moment, she said…” Rin muttered. “We have to go, get back to camp, collect the potions…” Rin shook her head.

  “I’ll pack everything,” Mykrai offered. “You three can keep talking while I do it.”

  “But… what is there to say?” Emma asked, sniffing. “We… all saw what happened.”

  “I saw, I still don’t know what it means.” Amaris sat down in a chair and shook her head. “I was not at all prepared for that.”

  “The great hero Amaris, brought low by a boy’s confession,” Rin said. “It’s silly.”

  “Yeah. Silly.” Amaris purposefully took out Pitch and had him weave through her fingers. “Silly…”

  “I have to ask if you’re sure you have no interest,” Rin said. “It would be a mess later if you did.”

  Amaris shook her head. “The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. Up until recently I thought it was stupid for Emma to like him.”

  “Guess you were right…” Emma grumbled.

  Amaris shook her head. “No… I don’t think that anymore. He… isn’t just some stupid sports guy who the girls flock to.”

  Rin nodded. “He got my respect today as well, wants to say ‘screw it’ and defy society. I can get behind that.”

  “Y-yeah, I… noticed there was more to him too,” Emma admitted, smiling. “I… was actually starting to agree with you two, that I was being silly, especially after all these adventures showing me something far more… real. But he turned out to be different too, and I…” she wrung her wrists together. “I thought it was delightful…”

  Amaris frowned. “I… ugh, I just had an idea but I have no idea if it’s a bad one or not.”

  “Might as well suggest it, we’re all stupid here,” Rin suggested.

  “...Maybe you should confess to him?” Amaris suggested.

  Emma flushed beet red.

  “Right, bad idea, knew it, forget I said anything…”

  “No… no that’s… that’s an idea.” Emma took in a sharp breath. “It might… it might help him.”

  “Not now,” Vayvaresi said.

  The three girls turned to stare at the kitsune. “I forgot you were here,” Rin said.

  Vayvaresi flicked her tails. “It’s fine, I didn’t want to intrude, but right now he’s not in a good state of mind to receive something like that. I’d wait for a later moment when he’s more stable.”

  “R-right,” Emma stammered. “Makes sense.”

  “Sorry for dragging you into teenage girl drama,” Amaris said.

  Vayvaresi shook her head. “Teenage girl drama though it may be, it’s still important to all you. I’ve seen many more years than you, if my experience may be able to help, I should give it.” She closed her eyes. “And remember, Jenny is not young. She has experience as well.”

  ~~~

  “You really know how to run.”

  Ralph came to a sudden stop, looking up to see Jenny in a tree.

  He glared at her angrily, knowing he couldn’t hide his bloodshot eyes and wet face. “What are you doing here?”

  “Making sure you don’t do something stupid.” Jenny jumped down from the tree and crossed her arms. Ralph was struck by the complete lack of a smile on her face.

  “Stupid like what?”

  “Act out in rage or depression. You could injure yourself, kill yourself, injure someone else, get lost in the forest and get eaten by animals…”

  “What kind of person do you take me for?”

  “A teenage boy, obviously.”

  “Who are you to talk?”

  “I’ve seen a lot of people like this. I may not be a people person, and I may never mature physically and experience anything even remotely like what you’re going through right now, but I get a sense for things. Especially when they’re dire.” Her expression darkened. “You have no idea how many people have died in front of me for reasons like this. I may forget a lot, but those are the sorts of memories that stick around the longest.”

  “I bet you feel so high and mighty and wise.”

  “Hardly wise. I’ve made some very stupid decisions lately. Still am making some of them despite knowing they’re stupid…” She crossed her arms. “But right now, I’m not a danger to anyone or myself. You are. So I’m making sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Ralph clenched his fists. “I can take care of myself!” He lashed out and punched her in the face.

  She took it without flinching. “And this is why I’m here. You’re proving my point.”

  “You… you… shut up!” He punched again. This one she caught in her left hand, currently glowing with some kind of white magic.

  “This isn’t going to work, buddy.”

  “Why… why can’t I have anything I want!?” Ralph shouted. “I want so much, but I’m trapped! You’re just like the rest of them! Everyone’s stopping me!”

  “Please, don’t be ridiculous. You’d rather you take your anger out on someone else who could actually get hurt?”

  Ralph paused. “...Yes. Yes. I want to pay them back for everything! You’re just a stupid wall of meat!”

  “And once again, good reason for me to be here.”

  “WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?”

  “No.”

  Ralph tried to punch her again. This time she swept his legs out from under him and he fell flat on his back. He said nothing, his only movement being intense breathing.

  Jenny leaned against a nearby tree and waited.

  Several minutes went by.

  “Aren’t you going to do something…?” Ralph asked.

  “I am. I’m waiting for you to calm down.”

  Ralph slowly sat up. “...Guess you waited long enough, then.”

  “That was fast, but I guess you kind of have to be mister roll with the punches in your situation.” Jenny walked over to him and extended a hand.

  He took it, but kept glaring at her.

  “Yeesh, still angry at the person just trying to help you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine, fine, I can take a beating, it’s all the same to me.” Jenny shrugged. “Let’s get you back to the main camp.”

  “...I don’t want to see Amaris right now.”

  Jenny nodded. “Yeah, that… makes sense. I’ll take you to one of the teachers, all right?”

  “Yeah. I’ll… ask to go home.”

  “...You sure you want that?”

  “Yeah. My parents may suck, but I can just stay in my room for a while.”

  “Right. If you’re sure.”

  “I am.”

  Jenny looked at him, frowning. “You’re clearly not completely okay yet.”

  “Obviously. But I’m not going to talk to you about it.”

  “Fine, fine… let’s get you back.”

  ~~~

  Back at ORHI headquarters, Irene was clicking through various pages on the computer, trying to learn everything she could about the mysteries of Nuk. The bizarroyeshalo website was full of stuff, and with the “map” of it Taylor had prepared, it was actually navigable. With difficulty. Since Irene spent so much of her time behind the desk, she might as well read up on everything she could.

  So much of the stuff here was completely terrifying though, so she definitely wasn’t going to get to sleep anytime soon, despite it being the middle of the night already.

  “Maybe you should do something else,” Orville suggested.

  “But I have to know more about The Blue One! Just… it’s so terrifying, but inconsistent, bizarre, and… and I still don’t know what happened to James! It has to be here somewhere!”

  Orville put a hand on her shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be, sometimes mysteries are left unsolved. You are going to have to learn to live with that. We have several unsolved mysteries ourselves.”

  “I… I know.” Irene sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. “You’re… you’re right. I should watch some cat videos or something…”

  “Cat videos…?”

  “You don’t know? It’s one of the main things people put on the Internet. Taylor showed a bunch of them to me. Like…”

  The computer beeped, indicating that they had received an email.

  Irene left the previous conversation behind and opened the email. It wasn’t from a client or any sort of normal inquiry.

  It was from bizarroyeshalo.com.

  Greetings, Outer Reality Handling Incorporated,

  I must express my sincerest apologies. It never occurred to me that my hobby of documenting the bizarre happenings of Yeshalo would be turned into a tool for evil. I will no longer post any more recent activities to the site, forming a month-long ‘grace period’ where information will not be shared. It was never my intention to do so.

  That said, I am willing to share such information with you over a secured private network. Attached to this email is instructions on how to set up such a private network, which will allow me to send information to you regarding recent supernatural happenings without alerting any potential eavesdroppers.

  I will not be revealing my identity or any incriminating details about myself. I’m sure you can understand my desire for caution, considering the subject matter of that which I document. However, I do wish to express an admiration for your work. I could certainly not put myself out there like you have.

  Signing off,

  LadyMunchkinTree42

  P.S.: I apologize for the informal layout and language on the website, it is, after all, just a hobby of mine.

  Irene blinked. “Okay… this isn’t the response I was expecting, but I think it’s… good?”

  “It sure seems that way, but we should still ask Taylor.”

  “Obviously.”

  ~~~

  Ralph marched into his room.

  He closed the door.

  He pushed one of his nightstands in front of the door to keep it from opening.

  He went to his closet and pulled out over a dozen cardboard boxes filled with toys and clothes that were broken or tattered, but they never threw anything out in this house so here they remained just in case there was some use for them later.

  He only stopped when he got to the very back, finding a shoebox among a handful of other shoeboxes. But unlike the others, this one didn’t have shoes in it. He pulled it out and set it on his bed.

  He opened it.

  The object within was extremely shiny and glowed a soft bluish-green on top.

  It was one of the guns from the junk dimension.

  He ran his hand over it. When he had first found the gun case, there had been three weapons in it. He had stashed away this one before he showed the others to Amaris. He’d wanted it.

  He’d wanted to use it back then, but there was something about Amaris that had made him curious. Made him wait, and wonder.

  There was no point to that now. Not her, not Taylor. No point to any of it.

  “If I can’t have what I want… no one else can either.”